Shielded wire

[Tblack]

Looking for 16-4 shielded wire but can only find UL listed speaker wire anyone have some suggestions.

[PapuaPilot]

Just curious what you plan to use it for? There is nothing on a Kitfox I can think of that needs anything like this.

Best practices for any airplanes is to use aircraft wiring, not automotive or other commercially available stuff. There is a big difference in quality.

Aircraft Spruce sells 16-2 shielded wire. If you really need 16 gauge buy two times the length and run 2 sets.

[Tblack]

Just curious what you plan to use it for? There is nothing on a Kitfox I can think of that needs anything like this.

Best practices for any airplanes is to use aircraft wiring, not automotive or other commercially available stuff. There is a big difference in quality.

Aircraft Spruce sells 16-2 shielded wire. If you really need 16 gauge buy two times the length and run 2 sets.

Thanks for the reply, I’m installing AeroLed nav w/ strobes that have four wires. Per Aero these need a 10 amp breaker, looking at a ampacity chart 16 ga. is even light for that long of a run. Also installing Dynon glass avionics and they recommend using shielded wire to reduce feed back from pulsing loads. The magnetometer will be installed at the wing tip, nav/ strobe and magnetometer wiring will both run down the rear spar to the tip that’s why I was looking for 16/4, I had thought of running two 16/2 runs but while trying to find 16/4 I kept coming across the 16/4 speaker wire that is high quality wire and is also used in 12 volt systems. Like yourself I always want to use aircraft quality material, but many of the things used in experimental aircraft are not certified but are safe to use. That’s why I threw it out there to see if anyone had any information about non Mil spec. wire. Let me know if I’m missing something here.

[Geek]

Looking for 16-4 shielded wire but can only find UL listed speaker wire anyone have some suggestions.

Agree with Phil that 16 gauge is kind of an 'in between' size for the Kitfox. BUT....... I would check with these guys.

https://skygeek.com/military-specifi...4t23-wire.html

The link will take you to a page that says it's 2 conductor but the part number is for 4 conductor. I have had this issue when using them. They have wire but the description is often in error. If you just order from the description and not the part number you can get the wrong wire.

Gary

[Benbell4140]

I spoke with tech support at aero LED a few weeks ago and he told me to use 20 gauge for the wing tip lights. He mentioned that larger wire would be needed for a longer run but the short run in a kitfox wouldn’t be any problem. I still haven’t ordered the wire yet.


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[PapuaPilot]

I spoke with tech support at aero LED a few weeks ago and he told me to use 20 gauge for the wing tip lights. He mentioned that larger wire would be needed for a longer run but the short run in a kitfox wouldn’t be any problem. I still haven’t ordered the wire yet.

That sounds good and it's right from the horse's mouth.

I am going to run the numbers again for my plane because I upgraded to AeroLed Pulsar NSP lights.

[PapuaPilot]

BTW welcome to the forum! I saw this was your first post on the forum and wanted to give you a proper answer.

Here is a copy of my wiring diagram for this circuit.


NSP.jpg

[Tblack]

Makes sense, used two breakers. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[Delta Whisky]

Phil - a related, inquiring minds want to know, question (nothing to do with the nav/stobe light issue); specifically you said "It is safe to use 20 gauge wiring, it can handle the 5A current for that length of wire per AC43-13.1B." Why wouldn't you be able to use a 10A CB for two parallel circuits? (From your statement: "You are correct in not wanting to use a 10A breaker on 20 ga. wiring.") Thanks.

[PapuaPilot]

The problem is that a 10A CB is not protecting the wires, which a requirement in AC43.13-1B; it shows a 20 gauge wire must use a 7.5A CB (or smaller). If a circuit with a 20 ga. wire has a short and it doesn't blow the 10A breaker the wire can potentially overheating and cause a fire.

The circuit in the example I mentioned has 3 parallel circuits all on one 5A CB using 20 ga. wiring to all three strobes.